The present disclosure relates generally to seal assemblies, and more particularly to seal assemblies for use in gas turbine engines.
In gas turbine engines, sheet metal seals and wave-form gaskets (“W-seals”) are used to provide mechanical sealing between two or more components such as between a vane and a vane support. To ensure the W-seal stays in its cavity, significant amounts of radial contact length must be provided to the W-seal. Radial walls of adjacent vanes must extend beyond the contact point of the W-seal to ensure the seal convolute is always radially engaged, which adds weight to the engine and requires a rail of the vane to have a constant radius to ensure engagement with all contact points on the W-seal.